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Mangroves for the Future Fund

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) fund was launched at Phuket, Thailand in December 2006, is a unique partnership-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystems. The initiative is founded on a vision for a more healthy, prosperous and secure future for all Indian Ocean coastal communities, where all ecosystems are protected and managed sustainably.It has two main objectives: to strengthen the environmental sustainability of coastal development; and to promote the investment of funds and efforts in coastal ecosystem management.

MFF builds on coastal management interventions before and after the 2004 tsunami, especially the call to continue the momentum and partnerships generated by the immediate post-tsunami response. Surrounded by the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, India has an 8,000 kilometres coastline that spans 13 maritime mainlandStates and UnionTerritories (UTs). Approximately 20 percent of India's population lives in coastal areas, with a large proportion based in urban centers like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

MFF's Programme of Work in India

Comprised of a range of governmental departments, NGOs, intergovernmental organizations and academic institutions, MFF's programme of work in India is overseen by a National Coordination Body (NCB). The National Strategy and Action Plan (NSAP) guides the work of the NCB.

Geographic Focus

MFF in India works at the national level by networking, influencing policy issues, conducting training missions and through regional coordination activities. At the local level community networking, experience sharing and site-specific actions are at the core of MFF's activities.

For execution of large projects, five States in India were identified as priority areas. Selection of the five States was accomplished with seven categories, which include: human pressure, pollution, degradation, cyclone, climate change and sea level rise, seascape setting and unique features. The selection was largely guided by the following three measures:

1.Large extent of mangroves (West Bengal and Gujarat)

2.Biodiversity richness of mangroves (Orissa and West Bengal)

3.Tsunami-affected mangroves (Andhra and Tamil Nadu)

MFF's Strategy -

The National Strategy and Action Plan is organized into two categories:

1.Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for existing mangrove

2.Restoration Strategy and Action Plan for potential and or degraded mangrove areas

Under India's NSAP four priority areas have been identified in relation to MFF Programmes of Work (PoWs):

4.Under the system of democratic decentralization of responsibilities enshrined in Constitution amendment No. 73 of 1993, local bodies consisting of elected representatives, one third of whom are women, have been entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding the local environmental capital stocks.